


Forlorn

by trenity6



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Monsters, Angst, Blood and Gore, Drama, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fight Clubs, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Korra’s parents aren’t around, M/M, PTSD, REALLY slow, Slow Burn, Therapy, angry and depressed Korra, as in the monsters, mentions of rape but not anything graphic, multiple character deaths, no bendng, plus weird Avatar powers, scabs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-26 03:52:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14393721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trenity6/pseuds/trenity6
Summary: Forlorn-Pitifully sad and abandoned or lonely. Unlikely to succeed or be fulfilled; hopeless.Korra wanted to deny she was like that, but living in this messed up world made it harder for her to.Korra Centric/Modern-Apocalyptic AU





	Forlorn

**Author's Note:**

> Well hello. This is my first story on this website. Hopefully I know what I’m doing. But anyway, enjoy! This is going to be a wild ride.

Dusting the dirt off my shoes and wiping the sweat from my forehead, I head to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, I’m met with a horrendous sight. There’s a lot bruises and scars on my face, my lip’s busted, and my left eye’s slightly purple.

"I look like a fucking mess," I sigh, gripping the counter tightly.

Turning on the sink, I cup my hands and put them under the faucet to gather some water and then splash it on my face to clean some of the blood up. I continue to run my hands on my face and end up running them up and through my hair. Even though it doesn’t help how I look at all, it does make me feel a little better.

There’s a knock on the bathroom door and a man’s voice.

“Hey Korra,” he calls. 

I make a face, which causes everything to ache, before looking at him through the mirror. His head is peaking out the door way.

“Shin has ya money like always,” he tells me. “Ya better hurry up before the scabs come out. Ya may be tough in the arena but the scabs’ll rip ya to shreds.”

He’s joking since those things are blocked off from this part of town.

Grunting in annoyance and a little pain, I turn off the sink and grab my bag from the counter, swinging it over my shoulders. I approach the man, who’s staring at me approvingly because of my face, and say, “Yea, I know it. Your guy just fucked up my face really bad tonight.”

I walk past him, continuing, “I usually get a few hits on me and they don’t even look this bad.”

He laughs, following right behind me as we head towards the arena.

“Yea, and ya almost costed Shin his money if ya hadn’t gotten up from my man’s knockout punch,” he replies.

I look back at him with a risen eyebrow. Making these facial expressions actually hurt a little.

“If it was a knockout punch, I wouldn’t have gotten up.” I suck my teeth and turn back around.

From a distance, I can see Shin standing in the middle of the arena talking to someone. Lightning Bolt Zolt, I think. I don’t remember much faces besides Shady Shin since he’s technically my boss.

I’ll probably forget the man who’s talking to me right now.

He’s laughing again, but I don’t understand what I said that he thought was funny. It was the truth and he should be angry that he lost his money to me. That was his guy going up against me.

I already forgot the dude’s name. He was a pretty husky guy with a stone like face. I think he was from the Earth Kingdom since a lot of the men there are built like him. Well, from what I’ve seen so far. He was also a pretty tough fighter. He laid more hits on me than I’d usually get. Then, when it looked like I was off balance, he gave me his “knockout” punch. Ha! He shouldn’t even call it that after the look on his face when he saw me get back up, which was in two seconds before someone could even call it a knockout. I beat the shit out of him after that. Even got him to tap out.

Now I want to laugh, but that’d hurt my face even more.

We finally got to Shady Shin. He’s finished talking to Zolt and turns to me with a smirk.

“There’s my champion,” he says, patting my back. “Thought I lost you there for a second.”

I shrug. “You know not to doubt me anymore.”

He puts his hands up. “Okay. You got me. Won’t do it again.”

I hold my hand out to him.

“So?” 

Shin shakes his head and reaches into his jacket. Zolt smirks at him and says, “You’re right, she is persistent. I like her.”

Shin grunts, taking the wad of cash out of his jacket. “Told you. She starts to become a pain in my ass all the time though. Can’t we talk about the aftermath first?”

I frown before saying, “Not tonight. I’m tired.”

“Right…” He rolls his eyes. “We never do anyway.”

He hands me my half of the cash. “Alright, here you go Champ. Why don’t we hang out tomorrow night to celebrate. I know a great place to go.”

“Sure,” I tell him as I put the money into my bag. “If I don’t have any plans.”

“You never do.”

I ignore him. “Alright bye guys. Don’t let the police find you around here.”

As I’m about to turn and leave, the man who I almost forgot calls out, “Hold on a second.”

I give him an irritated look. I just want to go home and go the fuck to sleep.

“What?” I answer.

“Can’t I get ya numba?” he asks with a sly smile. “I’m impressed by how ya took out my guy. We could go get drinks sometime.”

I want to rip that stupid smile right off his face. Like hell I’m going to give him my number.

“No,” I tell him.

His smile is gone as Shin and Zolt start laughing.

“Another loss,” says Zolt. 

“Didn’t you hear?” comes Shin, smirking at the heartbroken man. “Korra ain’t into men. You’re outta luck completely.”

Just because I’ve rejected a lot men who ask me out doesn’t mean I’m not into them. They’re all just annoying. Plus, I don’t really like people at all. I’m better off alone.

“But you can ask Tai,” Shin continues. “Heard he was into men like you.”

Zolt and Shin share another laugh and I take that opportunity to leave. 

It’s raining when I get outside. It’s anything but light as well.

“Rain...just my luck," I mumble as I close the backdoor of the arena. Frowning at it, I continue, "I don't even have a fucking umbrella. This is great."

Hopefully I get home in time before the inside of my bag gets soaked. I hate the rain. It always ends up soaking my clothes. I never had the time to get an umbrella, since there was always bills to pay at my apartment.

I left the alley, where the fight club was, and walked along the Main Street. Everyone else had an umbrella and all I had was a hood, but of course that didn't work. The water just soaks through and ends up making me sick. The rain water is always cold, which is the worst part of it. I always end up getting the flu from the cold water and I can’t go to the hospital or doctors due to me not having any insurance. The only thing I can do though is buy over-the-counter medicine from the pharmacy, but that barely worked. I hate the rain.

Looking around, there’s not much people out on the street since it’s raining. It’s also really noisy out because of that and the cars. We’re lucky this part of the city is closed off from Scabs. If not, we wouldn’t be allowed to stay out at night. 

Scabs have been around for a long time. There are different type of scabs. They start out as regular people like us. Those ones aren’t bad. They think like us, act like us, and live like us. They’re still people. The only thing that’s different between us and them is the black mark that can be found on any part of the body. It starts out as a small mark. It starts to spread if medicine isn’t taken, and medicine for that costs a whole lot for some reason. They’re not dangerous at all at this point and many of them walk among us.

The next phase is when the mark spreads to half of the body. They start to lose a little of their sanity. At this point, medicine can still be used but it won’t make the mark go down. They’ll still look like a monster in the eyes of others. How they look and how they act isn’t the only thing that’s different. Strength is another characteristic. They start to grow stronger than they normally are. They can jump higher than your average professional basketball player. They’re not allowed to be around anyone and can be shot on sight if there are police or Scab hunters around. There are ways to hide yourself but that does little to no good. It’s best to stay underground and away from people. 

The third phase is when it spreads to the whole body. At this point their sanity is gone and now they just have a mind of their own. These are the kind of scabs that come out at night in places that aren’t closed off. If you’re a human or another scab, they won’t hesitate to attack you. It’s best to put yourself out of your misery if they find you. If you live in a non-closed off area, your curfew is about 9 o’clock. You can give yourself some time if you flash a light on them. Those things don’t like the light. It is unknown where they go when the sun rises. The police go to exterminate them along with the Scab hunters. More still end up appearing from what I’ve been told.

The final and least common phase is when there is no humanity left in their body. People don’t know how they get to that point since it is very different than the other phases. They morph into something else—something that’s not human at all. I’ve never came across them before whenever I traveled out this part of the city, but I’ve heard terrifying stories about them. They take many forms from being able to fly to turning into fish like creatures that can chase down a jet ski through the water. That’s what I’ve heard. 

The worst part is that it’s mostly the lower class that gets infected. That’s how it started too. Because the price of medicine is so high, a lot of the lower class just turn. Every month the people of this part of Republic City and many other parts have to get background checks where we have to strip all of our clothes to see if we’re a scab. It’s humiliating and cruel, but if we say no, they force us to and if that doesn’t work, they kill us. The police don’t care who you are, they’ll still tell you to strip. The only good thing is that if you’re at the first phase, they won’t kill you. They’ll just keep tabs on you. Scab hunters are another story. They’re just as bad as Scabs with no humanity.

Anyone can get infected but not everyone. I’ve heard about people being immune from years ago. They have their own name, but I don’t know what it is.

That’s just how it was in this fucked up world.

***

I finally make it to the apartment complex after a long, cold walk in the rain. My clothes got soaked again and almost the inside of my bag. I walk to the front desk and slap my money down onto it, startling the man who’s at the desk.

He was reading a magazine until the sudden sound caught his attention. He drops his magazine and looks up at me. He raises an eyebrow at me, noticing how I look.

"There's my rent money," I tell him, before walking off towards the elevator.

Walking into the elevator, I press the button for the third floor.

Yes, the fight club is my job. Yes, it’s illegal. If there’s anything the police hate as much as Scabs and gangs, it’s the fight clubs. Fight clubs are illegal in the city due to the amounts of homicides that take place there. That's why they are hidden. It is also an easy way to get money, as long as you're strong. That isn’t a problem for me of course. 

I've been attending fight clubs ever since I was 18 years old(that's the minimum age to participate). I'm 21 now and nothing's changed during the past years except me getting better at fighting. The fights were still the same. The clubs were still hidden. No one's ever found any of the clubs that I participated in. We almost did get caught though. Some idiot ran into the police while leaving the place.

It’s the only job I can get that can help me keep my apartment. I never had any job experience and the highest grade I got to in school was second grade. My parents weren’t around long when I was younger, so I became an orphan. I never had the chance to go to school and I never cared. I still don’t care. I have shelter and a job and that’s all that matters. I’m not exactly alone either.

I leave the elevator and go to my room, unlocking the door with my key and going inside. Turning on the lights, I drop my bag, kick off my shoes, and pull off my sweatshirt.

I don’t have much in my apartment. When I first got it, I already had the basic needed stuff. I don’t have a TV nor an air conditioner. I don’t have any chairs or tables. I do have a couch and a radio though, but those don’t help with the air or entertainment. The apartment doesn’t look so good either. It’s a mess. I never bother cleaning it since I don’t use my money for cleaning products. The electricity goes off sometimes, but not because I don’t pay rent or anything. The apartments are just bad.

The only good thing about this place is Naga.

Walking into the living room, I whistle out for her

If there’s anything that I love the most, it’s my dog, Naga. Naga’s a snow white husky that I found when she was just a puppy. She was left abandoned on the streets so I decided to take her. She grew pretty big over the past year. I take care of the her very well. Better than myself. I love her with all of my heart.

Naga comes pouncing in from my room, tail wagging and greeting me with a bark. I grin as I kneel down so that I’m at her ears.

"Naga," I call, scratching her head. "What did I say about barking at night? You'll wake the other people who are staying here."

Naga answers by licking me in the face, making me laugh even though it hurts a little.

"I'm going to go change my clothes," I tell her as I stand up. "The rain got me bad. I'll be back."

I pick up my bag and head into my room to get out of my soaked clothes. I would check my face out, but I’ll do that in the morning. It’s not going to kill me.

"Alright, time to eat," I announce, walking out of my room now in more comfortable clothing, which are sweatpants and a tank top.

Naga follows me into the kitchen, and I open up the fridge and take out her canned food and then the freezer to take out one of my microwave dinners.

There were a lot of things that I couldn't do, but what I couldn't do the most was cook. I mainly bought canned soup or microwave dinners. If I had enough money, I'd order pizza.

I grab a bowl from the cabinet and dump the dog food into it before placing it onto the ground. After that, I put my food in the microwave for four minutes and watched Naga eat.

She wolfed down her food by the time it hit the two minute mark on the microwave. She moved into the living room and sat down, waiting for me.

After the rest of the two minutes we’re done in the microwave, I joined her in the living room and sat on the couch.

"Man Naga, you are not going to believe what happened today," I say, ripping the plastic off my food. "I almost got my ass kicked at one of those fighting arenas. Too bad for him though because I still ended up beating him. I’ll give him props for trying though.”

She just looks at me, mouth open and tongue hanging out as if she were smiling.

The whole night consisted of talking to Naga and eating. Someone would probably think I’m crazy for talking to her. I don’t care though. I'd rather be friends with my dog than a person.

People are cruel and would double cross you whenever they had the chance. I don’t want to experience that again.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think :)


End file.
